Arakita Yasutomo
|kanji = 荒北　靖友 |roomaji = Arakita Yasutomo |alias = |gender = Male |birthday = April 2 |zodiac = Aries |bloodtype = A |height = 178 cm (5' 10") |weight = 63 kg (138 lbs) |age = |hair = Black |eye = |occupation = Student Cyclist |school = Hakone Academy, 3rd Year Yonan University, 1st year |affiliation = Hakone Academy Bicycle Club |type = All-rounder |bicycle = Bianchi Celeste with black logo |manga = Ride 45 |anime = |seiyu = Yoshino Hiroyuki}} Arakita Yasutomo is a third year student at Hakone Academy and a member of the cycling club there. He is an all-rounder and often works as Fukutomi Juichi's assist in races. Appearance In the past, Arakita styled his black hair into a pompadour, but he cut it off shortly after his first run-in with Fukutomi. His hair was quite short afterwards, but his bangs have grown out into his current hairstyle, still short, but long enough to reach his narrow eyes. He is easily identifiable by the eyelashes on his lower eyelids and his expressive mouth, which is often open wide enough to see his gums. In the movie, Arakita's hair has a brown tint. Personality Arakita has a bad mouth and is a competitive cyclist. He adds the suffix "-chan" onto the names or nicknames of certain people (Fukutomi, Onoda, Manami, and sometimes Kuroda), a habit that doesn't seem to match his otherwise gruff behavior. The nicknames appear to be more playful than derogatory, as they are only given to people who he finds impressive and acknowledges. He tends to pronounce it as "-chaan" rather than "-chan". Arakita often complains about being tired or overworked, but he still pushes himself to his limits in races. Plot History Arakita used to be a baseball player with a bright future, but he was unable to continue down this path due to an elbow injury that occurred during middle school. Feeling cynical, he decided to go to Hakone Academy, a high school without a baseball club. During his first year in high school, he was disappointed and angry at the world to the point of walking out of class and chasing off any friends (who he treated as lackeys). Even when he reached out to a cat whose freedom he admired, it ran away, adding to his bad mood. Arakita ended up lashing out at Fukutomi when they happened to meet on the side of the road, insulting him and knocking over his bike, and even pushing him to the ground. Unfazed, Fukutomi challenged Arakita to a race in response: his bicycle against Arakita's moped. Arakita was confident that he would be the victor, but Fukutomi easily overtook Arakita and won. After Arakita's loss, he secretly tried (and failed) to ride Fukutomi's bike at night several times without the other boy's permission. The outcome of his race with Fukutomi frustrated him and he wanted to figure out why he lost. Fukutomi caught him in the act one night and told Arakita that he could only successfully ride if he looked forward and relinquished his past ties. Fukutomi told Arakita he could either return the bike or bring it with him and join the club. Other club members were worried that Arakita would just run off with the bike, but Fukutomi insisted that he would return with it. As predicted, Arakita did return, determined to become faster and climb to the top of the cycling world. Fukutomi told him that this "top" was the Inter High, so Arakita vowed to compete there. Fukutomi introduced Arakita to the world of cycling, allowing him to join the team but limiting his participation to using the rollers for hours each day on a bike borrowed from the club instead of racing. Arakita was initially quite standoffish, making him unpopular with the other members, and he was still quick to become physically violent, usually collapsing from exhaustion before managing to attack anyone. When Shinkai Hayato, prompted by Toudou Jinpachi's comment on how Arakita refused to talk about his past, asked why he rode a bike, Arakita angrily declared it was to prove that he existed as himself, to see how far he could go. Shinkai remarked that he understood why Arakita was brought into the club, that "Juichi likes the weird ones" with a strong will, which is needed to go faster. Arakita is left confused, not understanding how anyone could like him. Eventually, he was able to compete in a race, although Fukutomi refused to tell him any details of how races worked. He only said that Arakita should come find him at the front if he had any questions. Enraged and filled with the desire to prove himself, Arakita accepted the challenge and passed the competing cyclists within four laps until he found Fukutomi. However, when Fukutomi asked him what question he had, he was unable to answer. Instead, Arakita immediately collapsed from exhaustion and dropped out of the race. Afterward, with the Manazuru Circuit race coming up, Arakita was enraged when seniors of the club mocked Fukutomi for aiming only for second place and Fukutomi never retaliated. However, after Fukutomi revealed he would be the newcomer's assistant to push him into first place, Arakita became dead set on winning. He was given Fukutomi's bike to ride again for the race, and thereafter keep, and followed orders to stick behind Fukutomi until the last stretch, where he sprinted to first and won. After this rough start, Arakita became a skilled, though quite reckless, cyclist who works well with Fukutomi, acknowledging that he couldn't have moved forward without him and won that race. He changed his nickname for Fukutomi from "Iron Mask" to "Fuku-chan". Prior to the Inter High, Arakita is introduced as a Hakogaku third year riding on the training rollers and complaining about the several interviews the team has been having to endure. He oversees the race between Manami Sangaku, who he sees as the team's problem child, and Kuroda Yukinari. In the manga, he is the one who tells Manami to scout out Sohoku's training camp. 41st Summer Inter High Day 1 On the first day of the Inter High, he works as an assist to Fukutomi. When Toudou becomes distraught over the fact that Makishima wouldn't accept his challenge, Arakita is the one to (mistakenly) point out that Sohoku only has one climber, and he reminds Toudou that his job is to take the mountain checkpoint. After Toudou leaves everyone behind to ride alone, Arakita is told by Makishima that Sohoku has a second climber who should arrive in three minutes. Arakita refuses to believe him; He insists that no proper cyclist in last place could pass 100 people nor the massive pack of riders clustered together behind them. Imaizumi calmly states that their second climber is never proper. Arakita is left in disbelief when Onoda does arrive. After the mountain checkpoint, Arakita assists Fukutomi by bringing him to the finish line. The two battle against Sohoku's ace Kinjou Shingo and his assist Imaizumi Shunsuke starting 4km from the goal. At first, Fukutomi is riding in front of Arakita and allows the Sohoku members to gain distance, causing Arakita to complain, but Fukutomi wonders if the sight of them still ahead, 3km from the goal, doesn't excite Arakita. Spectators wonder about who will win the first day; one of them recounts that Arakita has been working with Fukutomi since fall of the previous year in several races, and that the two have won each race. Toudou is seen talking to Makishima, describing Arakita as a "weird guy" who likes to take breaks and tends to be one of the slowest when practicing, but warns that in a major event like this, he's entirely different, with a determination like that of a wild animal. Toudou goes on to warn that if Sohoku is riding within Arakita by only a few dozen meters with 2km to the goal line, Hakone Academy will win. The aces and their assistants quickly pass both of them. In response to Fukutomi's question, Arakita becomes all fired up and begins riding recklessly to the point of slamming his pedals into the road and knocking his body against the guardrail, parked vehicles, and almost the spectators he passes. He scoffs at the crowd cheering him on to "do his best"; in his mind, he's arrived at the Inter High by his own strength, so people just sitting on the sidelines have no right to tell him that. It's here that he admits that Fukutomi is the only one he acknowledges. The two Hakogaku members finally catch up to Kinjou and Imaizumi, the latter of which Arakita starts taunting and dismisses as a "good boy" as he doesn't think Imaizumi, while impressive to keep up with third-years, is strong enough, nor wild enough, to be riding at the goal zone. Arakita, "smelling" the goal, quickly passes him with Fukutomi in tow, and calls for Kinjou. But Imaizumi proves Arakita wrong by accepting his true nature and puts Arakita on edge, shouting for the Hakogaku member to move out of the way and riding as aggressively as Arakita does to chase him. According to Arakita, Imaizumi's "scent" completely changes. The two have an intense race to launch their respective aces as Imaizumi tries to break past Arakita, ending up neck and neck with each other at the 500m launch mark. When Midousuji Akira surprises them by arriving next, Arakita is too exhausted to keep up and consequently is unable to stop him. After the results come in that Hakone Academy, Sohoku, and Kyoto Fushimi all tie for first, Arakita is seen at Hakogaku's hotel room that night complaining that he wanted to win by a large margin, to which Fukutomi assures him they can on the third day. Day 2 Day 3 After the Inter High Skills and Techniques Arakita can ride at dangerous angles, even leaning over far enough to brush against the guardrail that runs along the road and his pedals hitting against the ground. He may just seem to be disregarding his safety, but this riding style is a testament to his skill. Relationships Fukutomi Juichi Arakita and Fukutomi had a disastrous first meeting, as Arakita insulted Fukutomi and even physically assaulted him. After losing a race on his moped against Fukutomi and joining the cycling team, Arakita later came to respect him, saying that Fukutomi is the only one he "acknowledges." This respect goes so far that Arakita does not become physically violent anymore nor pick fights simply by Fukutomi's orders. His loss to Fukutomi is what caused him to develop an interest in bicycles, and Fukutomi is the one who encouraged him to move forward in his life (very literally telling him that the only way to successfully ride his bike was to "look forward" and relinquish all past ties). Over the years, the two developed a more friendly relationship, and Arakita often works as an assist to Fukutomi during races. In the past, Arakita called Fukutomi "Iron Mask" (tekkamen), stone-face, but he currently has a nicer nickname for him: "Fuku-chan." Shinkai Hayato Shinkai was one of the club members initially interested in reaching out to Arakita when he first joined, curious about why Arakita rode, and quickly started calling him by his first name. His easygoing personality seems to mesh well with Arakita's aggressive one. Drama CDs and post-credits scenes of the anime frequently depict Arakita hanging out with him and other members outside of club activities. Shinkai does not react negatively to Arakita's constant complaining and insults, as with the loss at the Sprinters Checkpoint on the second day of the Inter High where Arakita pulls him along afterwards, complaining about being tired and calling Shinkai uncool for losing despite his confidence; rather than being affronted, Shinkai thanks him for allowing him to recover. Shinkai knows that Arakita is truly soft under his abrasive nature, and can easily manipulate this when he wants. On at least one occasion, Shinkai resorted to crying rivers of faux tears when Arakita refused to try the food he was enjoying, which successfully guilted Arakita into eating it. He's also gotten Arakita interested in reading mystery novels instead of just manga, and allows him to copy his homework (even though it appears the answers are usually all wrong). Toudou Jinpachi Initially, Arakita didn't get along well with Toudou in the slightest. After Toudou tried to be friendly when Arakita first joined the club, Arakita simply insulted his hairstyle and refused to tell Toudou about his past athletic experience, which Toudou could tell must have existed. Although he instantly understood Arakita probably had bad memories about his past, Toudou was insulted by the headband comment to the point that he wanted Arakita to quit the club. Over time, though Toudou claims he never thought they'd be riding together, the two grew to highly respect each other as cyclists. As third years, they tend to bicker, but usually over trivial things like Toudou scolding Arakita for trying to copy homework or his eating of unhealthy food, and when Arakita insults Toudou for not knowing something, Toudou is quick to study up on it out of spite. They seem friendly enough towards each other regardless of how they clash; In extra material, Arakita has called Toudou to wish him happy birthday and offered to buy him a soda. (Unfortunately, he mistakenly called someone else.) Watanabe said that Arakita would be the first to text Toudou "Happy Birthday" despite how he acts, because that's the sort of guy he is. In one drama CD, Toudou, after Arakita berates him for being terrible at handling cats, doesn't hesitate to cuddle Arakita like a cat to demonstrate his newly-learned cat appreciation techniques. Onoda Sakamichi During the third day of the Inter High, Arakita, Onoda, and Manami get left behind in the pack. The three of them end up working together in order to catch up with their teams. At first, Arakita did not want to team up with Onoda, but the latter's persistence in asking payed off. Despite their conflicting personalities, the two developed a relationship built on mutual respect. Arakita begins calling Onoda "Onoda-chan" and Onoda calls Arakita an "amazing person." Once they return to their teams, Arakita tells Onoda that they have returned to being opponents, and therefore Onoda should not thank him. Later, Onoda is distraught when Arakita drops out of the race. Machimiya Eikichi When Arakita faces Machimiya on the third day of the Inter High, he says that he doesn't hate Machimiya's type and that Machimiya resembles his past self. This prompts the flashback to when he first began cycling. He offers to buy Machimiya a Bepsi after he wins. Arakita does indeed win, a fact that Machimiya accepts with surprising grace considering how hard and dirty he fought; at one point he headbutted Arakita so hard that he began bleeding. Kuroda Yukinari Kinjou Shingo Trivia ;Likes : Meat : Soft drinks (Bepsi) : Selfish girls : Is a cat lover ;Talents : Turning corners on his moped : Can do a backflip : Cooking (Is only good at making scrambled eggs.) ;People he hates : People who tell others to "hang in there!" ;Misc * His hometown is Yokohama, and his family lives in a high-class neighborhood. They own a dog called Akichan, whose name Arakita based his e-mail address on. Akichan is a Papillon. * Has a driver's license. * Arakita got his bad mouth from fighting with his two younger sisters. * The pose he makes with his hand is called the "gabu gabu" ("bitey bitey") pose. Watanabe thought it looked strong. * He is susceptible to cold because he has very little body fat. * After graduating, Arakita lives in an apartment on his own. * Arakita's Bianchi is named "Bian". He keeps it with him after graduating. * After Shinkai, Arakita is the Hakone member that eats the most. * Watanabe says he means to draw Arakita ugly. Gallery R.I.P pompadour.png| First year Arakita cutting his hair college arakita.png| Arakita in college arakita pencil board.png Yasutomo.Arakita.full.1608767.jpg|Anime concept art. Yasutomo.Arakita.full.1573368.jpg|Alternate anime concept art. arakita1.png arakita2.png arakita onsen.png arakitamovie.png|Movie concept art. ara-chan being a cat or somthin.jpg Arakita-color.png Category:Male Characters Category:Hakone Academy Bicycle Club Category:Blood type: A Category:Students Category:Cyclists Category:All-rounders